Residential sales for the first month of 2017 look very similar to January of 2016, according to numbers released by the Ann Arbor Area Board of REALTORS®.

New listings are tracking with last year at 259 for January, compared to 256 a year ago. Sales in January 2017 were almost identical to last year, with 192 sales of single family residential properties recorded, compared to 191 in January 2016. The only difference appears to be that properties are selling faster than last year. A year ago, it took 70 days to sell a home, this year it took 60 days.

Prices continue to rise. The average listing price in January 2017 was $279,673, an increase of 5.8 percent from the average January 2016 listing price of $264,330. Likewise, the average sale price for January jumped 5.6 percent, from $256,818 in January 2016 to $271,131 in January 2017.

According to Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist for Realtor.com, millennials and baby boomers are reaching turning points in their lives. Millennials are getting married and starting families while baby boomers are looking toward retirement. A stronger consumer outlook on top of historically high numbers of people turning 30 and 65 will provide the support for continued gains in the months ahead. The key challenges will be continuing low levels of available homes for sale combined with navigating marginally higher mortgage rates.